Friday, September 25, 2015

Daytrip from Melbourne

If
you only had one day to explore the rolling green hills of the Dandenong
Ranges, what would you do?

Well,
I compiled a list of the sights we were able to see in just one day recently.
Luckily, the Dandenongs are located only an hour’s drive from Melbourne so I’m sure we’ll be back to explore
some more. This area is the perfect escape from the city’s major hustle and
bustle.

At 9
a.m., our first stop was at Piriandas Gardens, a beautiful woodland garden
containing a unique collection of non-native plants and trees. Not much was
blooming in early September yet, but the terraced gardens were full of green
ferns and shrubbery. Apparently, this garden is particularly beautiful in autumn
when the trees change colors. We happened to see several Sulphur-crested
cockatoos and two Kookaburras here.

The
gardens were created by a local couple, Harvey and Gillian Ansell, in 1959 on
28 acres. On their annual overseas holidays, the Ansells bought and imported
new and unusual plants that were planted amongst the native rainforest species.
In 1977, the Ansells donated the garden to the Victoria government.

Another
lovely garden spot is the National Rhododendron Gardens, which was established
in 1961 by the Australian Rhododendron Society. In spring, these gardens are
home to brightly colored blooms of rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, cherry
trees and daffodils. The rhododendrons usually bloom from June to early December.

Did you know there are 950 species of rhododendrons in the world? Nope, I didn’t
either, but this Victorian garden contains approximately 550 of these species.

We
spent a little over an hour walking through the garden and admiring the pretty
blooms. Note: the free gardens are much bigger than they look and include a
5-km walking trail around the perimeter. Here’s a walking
trail map.

We saw this cheeky Kookaburra literally swoop down and steal some chicken from a picnic table!

The
Olinda section of Dandenong Ranges National Park covers 790 hectares between
Olinda, Kalorama and the Silvan Reservoir. Until 1968, huge Mountain Ash trees were
felled for timber and used in the growing city of Melbourne. Now, the remaining
trees are home to several Australian bird species.

From
the Olinda Falls carpark, it’s a relatively easy (but muddy) walk, perhaps
10-15 minutes to access the upper falls and then 5 more minutes or so to the
lower falls. These were my favorite waterfalls we saw in the Dandenongs. At the
lower falls, we sat down on the wooden bench and enjoyed a mid-afternoon picnic
lunch. I recommend that you do the same to avoid the crowds at the picnic
grounds by the carpark.

We
saw dozens of cockatoos and lorikeets here, but they were perched too high up
in the trees to get any good photos. Here is a walking
map of the area.

Does anyone know what these metallic blue bugs are? Such a strange color!

Touted
as having the “best view of Melbourne,” the Mt Dandenong Observatory was slightly
disappointing for us. First, you must pay 6 aud for the car park, and then you
must navigate around dozens of people that don’t know how to park a car and
throngs of families going to and from their cars here. Crowds really aren’t our
thing, and on this Saturday it was particularly awful. The café was packed and
the main restaurant was closed for a special event. At least my glass of white
wine was only 7 aud, and we briefly enjoyed the sweeping view of Melbourne and
the surrounding Victoria region.

If
you want a beautiful, tranquil place to reflect on life, stop at the William
Ricketts Sanctuary located just down the road from the hectic observatory. Just
as my good Melburnian friend recommended, this sanctuary was a true delight!

This
sanctuary was created way back in the 1930s by local sculptor William Rickets when
he bought a four-acre bush block and called it Potter's Sanctuary. Over the years,
he made frequent trips and befriended the Pitjantjatjara and Arrente Aboriginal
people, whose traditions and culture inspired his sculptures. In the 1960s, the
Victorian government heard about his work and bought his property and
additional adjoining land. Ricketts lived at the sanctuary into his nineties
and continued to create his sculptures until his death in 1993.

This
sanctuary is truly a magical place! I felt like the sculptures, half hidden among
the ferns, were literally coming out of the ground and becoming part of the
surrounding forest. It’s really tragic to think how the Aboriginal people were
treated when the first “white people” arrived in Australia and then destroyed
acres and acres of land and killed thousands of local animals such as koalas, kangaroos
and wallabies.

As the
afternoon light faded, we made our final stop of the day at Sherbrooke Falls,
which includes a 2.4km flat trail roundtrip. (Click here to see a trail
map of the area.) We entered the trail off Terry’s Avenue and founded it
to be an old, muddy logging road. Along the way, you’ll see the tons of verdant
green ferns (which remind me of Jurrasic Park) and the region's finest mountain
ash trees, some of them up to 200 years old. I found the falls slightly disappointing
compared to the Olinda Falls, but apparently they are the most inspiring after heavy
rains.

Have you visited the Dandenong Ranges? Do
you have any other tips for our next trip?

For a long time now, Victoria has been known as the 'Garden State' of Australia. With a plenitude of parks and gardens situated all through all significant urban communities and towns everywhere throughout the state. With Melbourne being the Capital City, it is honored with some glorious stops and gardens everywhere throughout the metropolitan zone, not only the well known ones nearer to the CBD.